Paul Jacobs: 'I thought he was going to be a horse of a lifetime - until Limato'

Paul Jacobs, the owner of much-loved big-race stalwart Limato, tells Lee Mottershead how a seven-decade love affair with racing began in Africa and led him to Group 1 glory.

In 1951, when I was aged just five, we left Britain to live in Kenya. To supplement their earnings my mother and father started working for the Tote at Nairobi racecourse. There was no one to look after me so I went along to the track and reported to them between races.

I was captivated by the racehorses and the racing. My one shilling pocket money was always illegally invested in one of the races. What tended to happen was the horse I backed lost but then the next horse I would have backed won – and over the years nothing has changed!